Canada's Forzani Group reports Q2 sales resultsAfter suffering a profit loss in the same quarter in 2005, Forzani Group (FGL.TO) is in the black for the 2006 second quarter, as Canada's largest sporting goods retailer overhauled some of its storefronts.

The company, whose outlets include Sport Chek, Sports Experts and Coast Mountain Sports, as well as specialty retailer The Fitness Source that it bought in early 2006, said it earned CDN $1.9 million (USD $1.7 million), or 6 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter. That compares with a loss of CDN $2.3 million, or 7 Canadian cents a share, for the same quarter a year earlier. Its results included a non-recurring, non-cash charge of 1 Canadian cent a share related to income tax rate changes, it added.

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Retail sales rose 11 percent to CDN $337.9 million (USD $304.9 million) compared to CDN $305.1 million last year, boosted in part by the recent acquisition of The Fitness Source chain. Same-store sales were up 5.4 percent in corporate outlets and 6.9 percent in franchise locations -- for an overall increase of 6 percent. At the time of the acquisition, Fitness Source, which provides equipment and accessories for both residential and commercial use, reported annual sales of CDN $20 million (then equivalent to about USD $17.4 million).

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Forzani said the revitalization of its Sport Chek and Sport Mart stores, as well as changes made to merchandising and inventory management processes, helped lift results.

(Conversion of Canadian dollars into U.S. dollars is for information only, is not necessarily relative to earnings, and is based on the currency rate as of Sept. 1.)

Sport Chalet ranked No. 1 by consumers in retail surveySport Chalet (Nasdaq: SPCHA and SPCHB) was ranked by consumers as the No. 1 most desired retailer in the 2006 Retail Demand Today Report published by Kanbay Research Institute (KRI), an independent research company. It topped the list ahead of Kohl's, Amazon.com and Tiffany, among others.

KRI said the study identifies the top performing retailers in 16 major retail categories including sporting goods. Sport Chalet gained the top spot among all retailers across the 16 categories, which spanned the specialty, luxury, discount and online categories.

In the 2006 study, KRI conducted 6,674 web-based interviews with U.S. consumers, rating 104 of the leading retail companies to discern how well their desires are being met and identify emerging trends in the industry. The report, which was released last week, is entitled "Retail Demand Today: How Well Retailers Deliver on America's Shopping Desires." To download a copy, click here or contact info@kanbayresearch.com.

Liberation second hedge fund to enter into confidentiality agreement with BallyFollowing in the footsteps of Pardus Capital Management, Liberation Investment Group recently executed a confidentiality agreement with Bally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT). Liberation said Bally had agreed to make information on its business and financial position available to it on a confidential basis.

The investment fund said in a filing with the SEC that it could arrange "an extraordinary corporate transaction" such as an acquisition, sale of the company, reorganization or recapitalization of Bally.

Pardus said it held a 14.8 percent stake in Bally, and Liberation said it holds an 11.2 percent stake in Bally through its director Emanuel Pearlman, according to the filing.

On Aug. 11, Bally announced the ouster of CEO Paul Toback, lowered its outlook and said its search for a buyer had been unsuccessful. It elected Don Kornstein as interim chairman and Barry Elson as acting CEO. Both were on a dissident slate of board members, nominated by Pardus and elected in January. Elson was also backed by the company.

After the news, the stock jumped as much as 12 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 29. It closed the day at $2.91, up $0.24 from the previous day's closing.

Cybex receives thumbs-up from brokerageOn Aug. 30, Roth Capital initiated coverage on Cybex International (Amex: CYB). The brokerage gave Cybex shares a "buy" rating. It closed the day at $6.44, up $0.24 from the day before.

Turnaround expected for Reebok in Q4, adidas CEO saysA German magazine quoted adidas CEO Herbert Hainer as saying that adidas (ADSG.DE) expects a turnaround in sales at U.S. subsidiary Reebok by the end of the year.

"I am confident that we will see rising order intakes in the final quarter of this year," Hainer told Germany's Focus Money magazine in an interview. "While we still expect sales to fall in the middle single digits for 2006, we see rising sales in 2007."

adidas blames Reebok's declining sales on weak footwear business, and the fact that adidas, not Reebok, now equips the U.S. NBA basketball league. But Reebok will contribute to the group's earnings per share in 2006, the company said.

Finish Line Q2 same-store sales dropFor the second quarter, Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL) reported that same-store sales decreased 6.6 percent at the company's name-brand locations, and fell 4.8 percent at its Man Alive stores. Total sales for the quarter fell nearly 1 percent to $338.6 million from $341.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company said it bought back 1.1 million shares during the quarter. Under its current 5 million share buyback authorization, Finish Line has repurchased 2.6 million shares at a cost of $35.5 million. The buyback authorization expires at the end of 2007.

Bally reportedly being eyed by Virgin; seeks waivers from debt holdersVirgin group billionaire Sir Richard Branson is reportedly weighing a $1.2 billion bid to buy Bally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT) and sees the health club operator as a way to grow the company's U.K.-based Virgin ...read more

Canada's Forzani Group reports higher 3Q earnings, lower compsForzani Group (FGL.TO), Canada's largest sporting goods retailer that announced big plans in October to take on specialty fitness by mid-2005, reported third-quarter net earnings of CDN $6.4 million (USD $5.36 ...read more

Brunswick stock drops 13 percent as it lowers yearly forecastAs its marine division moves into the off season, Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) said it has "tempered the assumptions behind our previous earnings estimates" as it sees how the economy pans out after the triple whammy of ...read more

Cybex continues growth pattern in 3Q, all sales up in 2004Cybex International (AMEX: CYB) kept up its recent trend in sales and income gains in the third quarter of 2004 that ended Sept. 25, 2004, reporting net sales of $24.9 million compared to $21.9 million for the comparable ...read more

VF expands international venturesVF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) said it has formed a joint venture with a local partner, Arvind Mills Ltd., to design, market and distribute VF branded products in India. VF will own 60 percent of VF Arvind Brands Private Ltd. and Arvind Mills will own the ...read more

Surge in direct sales offsets retail drop to drive Nautilus growthWith a company turnaround said to be on track, The Nautilus Group reported with its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings that direct-to-consumer sales exceeded expectations with sales up 42 percent. However, ...read more

Bally's Q3 loss widensBally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT) said its third-quarter loss widened due to an asset impairment charge and other expenses. The company reported a loss of $5.7 million, or $0.14 per share, compared with a loss of $214,000, or a penny per share, a year ago. It ...read more

Bally debt holders OK waiverBally Total Fitness (NYSE: BFT) said it has received approval from a majority of holders of its senior notes to waive financial reporting covenant defaults until July 10 after the company failed to file its 2005 financials on time. Majority approval ...read more